Making Hundreds of Millions Through Virtual Asset Price Manipulation... Financial Services Commission Reports to Prosecutors

Yonhap News

원본보기 아이콘

An investor who made hundreds of millions by pre-purchasing a specific virtual asset, driving up its price, and then selling all holdings has been reported to the prosecution.

On the 16th, the Financial Services Commission announced that it had reported Mr. A, suspected of unfair trading (price manipulation) in the virtual asset market, to the prosecution.

This case is the first to be handled through the formal legal investigation process following the enactment of the Virtual Asset Act in July last year, which includes 'notification by virtual asset exchanges to financial authorities of abnormal user transactions → investigation, deliberation, and resolution by financial authorities → reporting to the prosecution.'

According to the Financial Services Commission, Mr. A first purchased a significant amount of a specific virtual asset, then repeatedly submitted orders within a short period to increase the price and trading volume, and once the price surged, sold all the purchased assets.

This price manipulation process mostly occurred within 10 minutes, during which the prices of virtual assets that were in a sideways trend showed a pattern of sharp rises followed by sharp falls.

The financial authorities have determined that Mr. A gained unfair profits amounting to hundreds of millions of won over about a month through such trading.

The Financial Services Commission stated, "Concerns are growing about the potential expansion of unfair trading activities in a market environment where virtual asset trading volumes are increasing and price volatility is high."

It added, "When following purchases of virtual assets whose trading volume and prices are rapidly rising, prices may suddenly plunge without warning. Users should exercise special caution when trading."

© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.